Flood insurance relief vote is a good start, South Shore officials say

Efforts to avert the disastrous impact of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 took a major leap forward Tuesday when the U.S. House on a 306-91 vote passed the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act.

It doesn’t protect all property owners from rising flood insurance premiums, but local officials say a relief bill passed by the U.S. House is a big step toward sensible reform that won’t drive people out of their homes.

Efforts to avert the worst effects of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 took a major leap forward Tuesday when the U.S. House on a 306-91 vote passed the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act.

However, even if the bill passes the Senate and is signed by President Barack Obama, Norfolk County communities such as Quincy and Weymouth may still get new flood maps June 9. The maps bring new properties – 1,400 in Quincy alone – into the flood plain, requiring them to buy flood insurance.

U.S. Rep Stephen Lynch’s office said the status of the new maps depends on how the Federal Emergency Management Agency responds to the bill. Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch said he hopes it prompts FEMA to impose a delay.

“Because of the bill and the work we’re doing with our engineering company (to fight aspects of the map), I believe we will be getting our extension based on the atmosphere of the issue right now,” Koch said.

Lynch’s office said the bill includes language that ensures new properties added to the flood plain will start at low rates, protecting them from immediate and extreme rate increases. More than 1,000 Quincy properties already in the plain would benefit from the bill, which reverses some of the Biggert-Waters Act.

A FEMA spokesperson could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

Biggert-Waters eliminates flood insurance subsidies for homes built before flood maps, causing premiums to soar. The act started phasing into effect last year, bringing the coastal real estate market to a near standstill.

The financial impact would intensify with the FEMA’s release of new flood maps, which expand flood plains and raise water elevations. FEMA already announced a delay in Plymouth County’s maps for at least a year while it answers appeals from Marshfield and Scituate.

The bill doesn’t include language that would explicitly delay the implementation of Norfolk County’s maps.

In a phone call from Washington, D.C., moments after the Tuesday vote, U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, a Bourne Democrat, said the bill doesn’t do everything he would have liked, but it prevents the most devastating changes for more than three years.

“It helps individuals who have their life savings invested in their home, and who had real fears that (Biggert-Waters) would impact the purchase price if they sold it,” Keating said. “This is a complicated process going forward, but in the meantime, the penalty shouldn’t be on homeowners.”

Page 2 of 2 - The bill caps the amount that flood insurance premiums can increase by an average of 15 percent and removes the sale-rate increase trigger, allowing a homebuyer to inherit the policy held by the seller.

The bill would also refund excessive premiums that have been already paid by property owners, such as Michael Chwalek of Hull. Chwalek purchased his house in October 2012, but he was not warned of the pending changes until he received a flood insurance bill in November. His premium had increased nearly five-fold.

Chwalek said he watch Tuesday’s vote live on C-Span, which had a real-time tally of the votes and a timer.

“When we hit 290 votes, I went absolutely ballistic,” Chwalek said Wednesday. “I know there are a few more steps, but I slept well for the first time in the last five months not haunted by the nearly 500 percent increase in my flood insurance.”

While small businesses and secondary homes won’t see the same relief as primary residences, Keating said they will benefit from reinstated grandfathering. This means all structures that were built to pre-existing elevation standards will not be penalized for not complying with new maps.

State Rep. Jim Cantwell, D-Marshfield, said the grandfathering clause will protect businesses like Haddad’s Ocean Café, which was built 2 feet above the level set by the federal agency, yet would fall 3 feet below elevation on the new proposed maps.

“It’s very good news for folks, not only along the coast, but anywhere with rivers and ponds in this country,” Cantwell said of the bill. “I’m excited it made major advances on eliminating the sales trigger and being able the grandfather properties.”

Cantwell credited Keating and Lynch for rallying their colleagues in support of the bill, explaining that there was “strong indication” that Congress wouldn’t take up such legislation when he visited Capitol Hill late last year.

State Sen. Bob Hedlund, R-Weymouth, said the bill is a positive development, but he’s concerned about businesses that are seeing huge premiums due to flawed data.

“Having seen examples of local business that have been impacted by this, I question whether they should be impacted,” he said. “We’re not done with this issue by any means.”

The Senate in January passed its own relief bill, which would have delayed most parts of Biggert-Waters for four years. A conference committee will work out the differences between the two bills before legislation is sent to President Obama for signing.